There are a lot of housing events out there. Conferences with big speakers, slide decks, happy hours, and well-meaning panels.

Our first batch of homebuilding business leader attendees has registered for Focus On Excellence because they expect an experience different from virtually all the other leadership gatherings.

The dates are Oct. 27-29 at the Four Seasons Denver. Seats are limited. Don’t wait.

Register here now.

As we’ve been saying, Focus On Excellence is different.

It strays beyond the bounds of a conference. It’s heart — aimed at incubating professional lifelong fellow travelers in homebuilding’s bright future — is a working summit designed for the leaders who are ready to build their organizations for what comes next—not just next quarter, but the next five years.

That’s why we’re leading with a keynote speaker who doesn’t offer hype, spin, or speculation — just clear, rigorous, and well-grounded insight: Cristian deRitis, Deputy Chief Economist at Moody’s Analytics.

Cristian will open Focus On Excellence 2025 with a forward-looking housing market outlook that will help set the tone — not just for 2026 budget and operational performance planning — but for every decision that follows. From land strategy to capital deployment to workforce planning, what Cristian shares will shape how homebuilders prepare for a year that promises to stress-test every part of the business.

Why Cristian deRitis?

In a moment when noise and volatility dominate headlines, deRitis is a voice of signal. As a top housing economist at Moody’s Analytics, he blends real-time data with deep contextual analysis to give builders the macro view that matters most: What are we heading into, and how can we prepare?

In past presentations to homebuilding and residential development leadership audiences, deRitis has brought both clarity and perspective to a mix of high-stakes issues:

• How consumer financial stress is impacting homebuyer demand
• Where mortgage rates are likely headed (and why)
• What labor market shifts mean for construction and home sales
• How economic resilience varies across regional markets
• What global risk factors (tariffs, elections, energy costs) mean for U.S. housing

He doesn’t talk in generalities. He shares charts, models, and interpretation tailored specifically to the pressures homebuilders face today, and the challenge and opportunities around the corner into 2026 and beyond.

As deRitis and his Moody’s co-author Matthew Walsh note in their recent report, Building Dreams or Barriers?:

The most direct effect of tariffs on the U.S. housing market is through the prices paid for building materials.

In that analysis, deRitis and Walsh also unpack less direct but equally important channels for impact on homebuilders and their prospective customer households.

That perspective—cutting through policy shifts to the practical consequences for builders and buyers—is what our sector needs now.

From Forecast to Focus

But this isn’t just about listening to an economist. Cristian’s keynote is the launchpad for two and a half days of applied work. We designed Focus On Excellence as a progression:

Act I: Clarity. We begin with the bigger picture. Where is the housing market headed? What macroeconomic signals should operators be paying closest attention to? How do today’s global headwinds and financial shifts impact the builder’s reality on the ground?

Act II: Capability. We move quickly into practice. This isn’t theory. Through interactive sessions, deep dives, and hands-on workshopping, leaders roll up their sleeves and tackle the real work: transforming siloed operations into seamless systems that can weather complexity.

Act III: Culture. Finally, we focus on people. Because the future of homebuilding won’t be built on spreadsheets. It will be built on the strength, alignment, and adaptive capacity of teams. From rising Gen Z leaders to long-proven division presidents, this event is about what it takes to transfer wisdom, skills, and strategic clarity across generations.

deRitis’ keynote presentation will be one of a handful of strategic icebreakers we’ll splice into our two-and-a-half day leadership gathering. Those icebreakers — in the form of one-on-one fireside chats, best-practice operational panels, and facilitated conversations — will each feature carefully selected strategic leaders from among your firms.

Announcements of those leaders will unfold during the next couple of weeks.

Why It Matters Now

If you lead in homebuilding right now, you already know this: the window of advantage builders have enjoyed post-pandemic has narrowed.

• Mortgage rates remain elevated and unpredictable
• Insurance instability is pressuring affordability in key markets
• Consumer confidence is softening
• The cost of land, materials, and labor is stuck at or near peak
• Capital is harder to access, and risk tolerance is falling fast

And that’s before you factor in mid-term elections, potential tariffs, global conflict, and AI-driven disruption.

Still, there is opportunity. Demand remains fundamentally strong. Demographics haven’t changed. And the right operators—those who take a full-stack approach to data, systems, and human capability—can pull ahead.

But only if they stop waiting for the future and start building it into the present.

That’s the spirit of Focus On Excellence. We’re not here to predict the next cycle. We’re here to help leaders prepare to shape, evolve, and win in any cycle.

Who This Is For

• Division presidents building operational strength
• COOs driving better systems and execution
• CEOs focused on succession, growth, and adaptability
• Founders passing the baton to next-gen leaders
• Owners and stakeholders looking to protect and grow enterprise value

If you recognize your company in that list, this isn’t just another date on your calendar. It’s a leadership imperative.

What Makes This Event Different

At most conferences, you hear from speakers.

At Focus On Excellence, you build with them.

The event we’ve developing will be powered by Tradecraft Central, led by executive learning experts Chris Ertel and Johanna Buurman. Chris and Johanna don’t do panels and they don’t dwell in abstractions. They don’t believe in passive learning. What they design are immersive, operational-performance-forward leadership workshops for high-consequence sectors.

As Chris says:

“We’re not there to deliver information. We’re there to generate transformation—and that happens in the room, between participants, in the real-time application of insight to your own context.”

This team has worked with the U.S. Navy SEALs, Fortune 100 CEOs, and leaders at the edge of complex, mission-critical industries. Their secret is in creating the conditions for people to stretch, think together, and act on what really matters.

And they’re bringing that method directly to Focus On Excellence.

Registration Is Open

The Builder’s Daily is proud to announce that registration is now open for Focus On Excellence 2025.

Dates: October 27–29, 2025
Location: Four Seasons Hotel Denver

Keynote: Cristian deRitis, Deputy Chief Economist, Moody’s Analytics

To Come: An all-star line-up of homebuilding business leaders to ignite our workshops with their shared learnings, ideas, and solutions.

This event is made possible with the support of our Elite Sponsor:

• New Home Star

… and our Premier Sponsors:

• Boise Cascade
• Builder Advisor Group
• Higharc
• Launch Development Finance Advisors
• Westwood Insurance Agency

Stay tuned: more speaker and sponsor announcements soon.

Don’t Miss It

What Cristian deRitis delivers on day one will frame every leadership decision you make in 2026. But it’s what you do with that insight, alongside your team and peers, that will set you apart.

We hope to see you there. Register now.